
Obverse
o 1o 1	a-na LUGAL be-lí-⸢ia⸣	(1) To the king, m[y] lord: your servant Šamaš-šumu-ukin. Good health to the king, my lord! May Nabû and Marduk bless the king, my lord.
o 22	ARAD-ka ^m^dGIŠ.NU₁₁—MU—GI.⸢NA⸣
o 33	lu-u DI-mu a-na LUGAL be-lí-ia
o 44	^dAG ù ^dAMAR.UTU a-na LUGAL be-lí-ía
o 55	lik-ru-bu ^mšá-ri-du ^m^dPA—PAB-MEŠ—APIN-eš	(5) Šaridu (and) Nabû-ahhe-ereš, citizens of Babylon, (and) Bel-iddina, a citizen of Borsippa, have sent me the (following) letter:
o 66	DUMU—KÁ.DINGIR.RA.KI
o 77	^mEN—SUM-na DUMU—BÁR.SIPA.KI
o 88	e-gír-tú is-sa-ap-ru-u-ni
o 99	ma a-de-e LUGAL ina UGU-ḫi-ka	(9) "The king concluded a treaty with us concerning you: 'Tell your lord whatever you hear!' Now, Bel-eṭir (and) Šamaš-zeru-iqiša have neglected the order the king gave them (and) are acting on their own. Aplaya, whom the king sent (with the command): 'Go (and) set up sanctuaries in Babylon!', has made common cause with them. They are observing the stars (and) dissecting lambs, but he does not report anything concerning the king, our lord, or the crown prince of Babylon. Aplaya alone is a haruspex; Bel-eṭir (and) Šamaš-zeru-iqiša are astrologers, they watch the sky day and night. Moreover, he has assembled the people who captured Aššur-nadin-šumi (and) delivered him to Elam, and has concluded a treaty with them, adjuring them by Jupiter (and) Sirius. We have now heard (about it) and informed the crown prince of Babylon."
o 1010	is-se-e-ni is-sa-kan
o 1111	ma-a mi-i-ni ša ta-šá-ma-a-ni
o 1212	a-na EN-ku-nu ta-qab-bi-a
o 1313	ma-a ú-ma-a ^mEN—KAR-ir ^m^dUTU—NUMUN—BA-šá
o 1414	ṭè-e-mu ša LUGAL iš-ka-nu-šá-nu-u-ni
o 1515	ur-tam-mi-ú ša ra-ma-ni-šú-nu e-pu-uš
o 1616	^mDUMU.UŠ-a.a ša LUGAL iš-pur-šu-u-ni
o 1717	ma a-lik BARAG-MEŠ ina KÁ.DINGIR.RA.KI kur-ru
o 1818	is-si-šú-nu pi-i is-sa-kan
o 1919	MUL-MEŠ e-mur-ru UDU.pu-ḫa-da-a-ni
o 2020	i-nak-ki-su ina UGU LUGAL BE-i-ni
o 2121	DUMU—LUGAL KÁ.DINGIR.RA.KI la i-qab-bi
o 2222	ma-a ^mDUMU.UŠ-a.a ú-de-e-šú LÚ.ḪAL
o 2323	^mEN—KAR-ir ^m^dUTU—NUMUN—BA-šá
Reverse
r 1r 1	LÚ^v.A.BA UD-mu—AN—EN.LÍL šú-nu
r 22	mu-šu kal-la UD-mu AN-e i-da-gul
r 33	⸢ù⸣ UN-MEŠ šá a-na ^maš-šur—na-din—MU
r 44	iṣ-bat-⸢ú⸣-ni a-na KUR.NIM.MA.KI id-di-nu-u-ni
r 55	up-ta-ḫir-šú-nu a-de-e is-si-šú-nu
r 66	is-sa-kan ina MUL.SAG.ME.GAR MUL.GAG.SI.SÁ
r 77	ut-ta-me-šú-nu ú-ma-a ni-is-se-me
r 88	a-na DUMU—LUGAL KÁ.DINGIR.RA.KI ni-iq-ṭi-bi
r 99	^mARAD—^dPA e-gír-tú a-na ^mEN—KAR-ir	(r 9) Urdu-Nabû has written to Bel-eṭir and Šamaš-zeru-iqiša as follows:
r 1010	a-na ^m^d⸢UTU⸣—NUMUN—BA-šá is-sa-ap-ra
r 1111	ma-a LÚ^v.IGI.DUB ša^! il-lik-an-ni	(r 11) "The treasurer who came, has come without (the consent of) the king. Scold him on my behalf! Sulaya, our brother, is kept in the Review Palace of Nineveh by royal command."
r 1212	ma-a šá la^! LUGAL it-tal-ka
r 1313	ma-a ina UGU-ḫi pi-i-ia qa-li-la-šu
r 1414	^msu-la-a.a ŠEŠ-ú-ni
r 1515	ina UGU a-bat LUGAL ina KUR—ma-šar-ti
r 1616	URU.ni-nu-u ṣa-bit
	rest uninscribed

Adapted from Mikko Luukko and Greta Van Buylaere, The Political Correspondence of Esarhaddon (State Archives of Assyria, 16), 2002. Lemmatised by Mikko Luukko, 2012, as part of the AHRC-funded research project “Mechanisms of Communication in an Ancient Empire: The Correspondence between the King of Assyria and his Magnates in the 8th Century BC” (AH/F016581/1; University College London) directed by Karen Radner. The annotated edition is released under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license 3.0. Please cite this page as http://oracc.org/saao/P336215/.